Product Spotlight: Compustar CS697-A Vehicle Security System

Though best known for its class-leading remote car starters, Compustar is rolling out a new line of vehicle security systems that includes the affordable CS697-A to protect your car or truck. While many vehicle owners believe the security system that comes with their vehicle is adequate, the reality is that those solutions are limited in their capabilities. An aftermarket alarm is the only way to completely protect your vehicle.

Features of the Compustar CS697-A Vehicle Security System

The CS697-A car alarm includes a dual-stage shock sensor, starter disable circuitry and two remote controls. The shock sensor monitors the body of the car or truck for sudden impacts from door dings in a parking lot or an attempt to break a window. Moderate impacts will result in the system honking the vehicle horn and flashing the parking lights. Significant impacts set off the full alarm, flashing the lights and honking the horn for 30 seconds. The system also includes dedicated door monitoring inputs and the ability to monitor the hood and trunk or hatch of your car or SUV. Additional sensors and door switches can be added for commercial vehicles or heavy-equipment applications.

Compustar Security — The CS697-A is based on the easily expandable Compustar CM2400 control module.

The system includes keyless entry functionality that will let you lock or unlock your doors remotely. Your installer can integrate the 697-A system with the remote trunk or hatch release function to make loading or unloading easier. The system activates the interior dome light for 45 seconds after receiving the unlock command so you can make sure everything inside is safe before you get in. Finally, two auxiliary outputs are provided to control options like a power sliding door or power window control module for added convenience.

According to the FBI, almost 250,000 vehicles are stolen in the United States every year. To help combat this, Compustar includes its E-LOCK relay in the 697-A. When properly integrated into your vehicle, this relay functions as a stand-alone starter-kill to further complicate the efforts of thieves hoping to steal your vehicle.

Vehicle Protection Upgrade Options

While this vehicle security system provides a solid set of features, just like Compustar’s remote car starters, it’s based around a control unit that’s easily upgradable. A high-output siren can be added to attract additional attention to the vehicle. Likewise, the DAS-II four-in-one sensor is another popular upgrade as it adds a digital tilt/motion sensor with glass breakage detection. If you’re concerned about wheel or catalytic converter theft, DAS-II is a great option.

You can also add the KP2 touchpad that mounts to the inside of your windshield. You can enter a user-defined code by touching the glass to disarm and unlock the vehicle. You can also choose to upgrade to a two-way remote control that will alert you when the alarm is triggered. If you choose a remote upgrade package like the PRO R5 or PRO T13, the proximity unlock function will unlock the doors automatically when you are within about 6 feet of the vehicle.

The ultimate upgrade is the Drone telematics system. You can be anywhere on the planet and still receive security warning notifications from your car or truck, so long as your smartphone can access the Internet. Better yet, Drone includes options to add GPS-based features that will send alerts if the car or truck moves while the system is armed or during user-programmable curfew hours. Impact, motion, tilt and glass breakage alerts from the DAS-II sensor are also relayed to your smartphone using the DroneMobile app.

Protect Your Investment with an Aftermarket Car Alarm

In 2019, Ford and Ram pickup trucks were the top two most stolen vehicles in the U.S. While these trucks came with factory-installed security, their popularity made them key targets for thieves. An aftermarket security system adds valuable damage and vandalism protection and a second starter-kill circuit that, when appropriately integrated, makes unauthorized starting of the vehicle nearly impossible.

Drop by your local Compustar retailer today to learn more about the CS697-A and its security and convenience options. You can learn more about Compustar car alarm and remote starter solutions by visiting their website, Facebook Page, Instagram Page or their YouTube channel.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Two Stories about how the Drone Smartphone System Saved the Day

While the convenience of being able to remote start your car from your smartphone with the Drone system is obvious, this easy-to-use system has been able to get clients out of a jam on more than one occasion. Let’s take a look at two examples where DroneMobile users have used their telematics systems when they got into a bind.

Keys and Phone Locked in Your Car?

Our friend Bob was on his way to work when he realized his truck was almost out of gas. As is normal on most mornings, he didn’t leave much extra time for stops on his way to the office. Not wanting to run out of fuel, he pulled into a Shell station to fill up his truck. In a rush to get the truck fueled and back on the road, he managed to lock his keys, phone and wallet in the vehicle.

In cases like this, there are usually two options. First, call someone at home to bring an extra set of keys. Option two is to call a tow truck in hopes that the driver can unlock the doors with a lockout kit. As luck would have it for poor coffee-deprived Bob, nobody was home.

Thankfully, he’d equipped his truck with a remote car starter that includes a Drone smartphone interface. He asked a fellow patron at the gas station if they would let him download the DroneMobile app so that he could unlock his vehicle. With the app installed in a few seconds, he entered his username and password to log in, then sent an unlock command to the truck. The doors were open three seconds later. After uninstalling the app on the phone, he bought his helpful friend a coffee for their trouble.

Log in to Drone on a Computer

Using another phone with the DroneMobile App was a great idea. Given the speed of most cellular data connections, it took less then two minutes to complete the entire process. Bob could have logged into the www.dronemobile.com website using the smartphone’s web browser and sent the unlock command. Another option would have been to call a family member and have them unlock the vehicle from their phone, or have them log in on the website and send the unlock command. With Drone on-board, there’s a lot of options to get out of a headache scenario like this.

You Won’t Get Lost in a Big City

It seems inevitable that even when we think we know where we’re going, circumstances lead to us getting lost. We recently heard of a case where a friend’s wife had to go into Buffalo for a meeting. They live just outside of Niagara Falls, so this wasn’t a long trip. Kelly did the best she could, having looked up her destination on Google, but after a few detours caused by construction and one-way streets, she quickly found herself somewhere she didn’t recognize. She didn’t have a navigation system in her car and didn’t want to risk getting a ticket by using her phone. She called her husband using her Bluetooth system for help.

The trick to getting un-lost is to know where you are. Her husband logged into the Drone website and used the GPS-based vehicle locating function to find her location. As it turned out, Kelly was just a few blocks from where she wanted to go. Her husband gave her directions to the parking lot she was looking for, and she made it to her meeting right on time.

Add the Convenience of Drone to Your Car or Truck Today

These stories are just two examples of how the features of Drone extend well beyond remote starting your vehicle on a cold winter morning. If you’re interested in adding a remote car starter with the Drone telematics system to your vehicle, drop by your local authorized Firstech retailer. You can find one using the dealer locator on their website. For more information about Drone, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can learn more about the amazing features of the Drone system with the videos on their YouTube channel.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Are Single or Dual Voice Coil Subwoofers Better?

When it comes to buying subwoofers, a lot of people have questions or make assumptions about the benefits and drawbacks of single voice coil and dual voice coil versions. Understanding the differences between them requires a slightly enhanced understanding of how an amplifier works. We cover both topics in this article.

How an Amplifier Works

An amplifier is a simple device that takes an audio signal (from your radio, for example) and increases the voltage. That’s it.

You may (logically) be asking yourself, “Why do we call it a power amplifier?” We get an increase in power because the speakers we connect to the outputs of the amplifier have a low impedance. In car audio, we typically see loads between 1 and 4 ohms. This low impedance, combined with the increased voltage of the audio signal in the amplifier, causes relatively large amounts of current to flow through the voice coil of the speaker. This current flow causes a magnetic field and, subsequently, the voice coil moves toward or away from the magnetic field created by the stationary magnet on the speaker.

(OK, maybe this didn’t stay as simple as originally planned.)

Amplifier Load Determines Amplifier Power

Let’s use an example of an amplifier that has a peak output voltage of 20 V. We don’t need to worry about the fact that this is an alternating current signal – we will examine this at a single point in time. With 20 V applied to our voice coil, let’s say we have a 4 ohm impedance on this coil. Ohm’s law states that a potential of 20 volts applied across a resistance of 4 ohms will result in 5 amp of current to flow. Using the equation P (Power) = Voltage x Current, we get 20 x 5, or 100 watts of power. If we change the impedance of the load to 2 ohms, we double the current to 10 amps, for a resulting power level of 200 watts.

If you look at the specifications for an amplifier, especially a subwoofer amplifier, you will see power ratings at different load impedances. In most cases, unless the voltage of the power supply in the amplifier is adjustable, amplifiers will make more power as the load impedance decreases.

What About These Subs?

Deciding which subwoofers to buy depends on the amp you are using and the number of subwoofers you are going to use. You want to choose a combination of subwoofers that will let you wire the voice coils together to an impedance that will allow the amp to make the power you want. Let’s look at several examples.

Example 1

We have the option of two different fictional subwoofers, each rated for 750 watts of continuous power handling. One subwoofer has a single 4 ohm voice coil. The other subwoofer has dual 4 ohm voice coils.

The dual voice coil subwoofer can have its coils wired in series to produce an 8 ohm load, or in parallel to produce a 2 ohm load. To complete this fictional example, we have an amplifier that will produce 400 watts into a 4 ohm load and 700 watts into a 2 ohm load. We have a small car and want to use a single 12 inch subwoofer in a large vented enclosure to get maximum low-frequency output. What sub should we use?

If we use the single voice coil subwoofer, the amplifier will not make full power in the 4 ohm load. We should use the dual voice coil subwoofer and wire the voice coils in parallel to present the amp with a 2 ohm load.

Example 2

In this example, we have the same electronic equipment, but the vehicle is a large SUV. There is a lot of room for subwoofers, and the owner wants to list to reggae, loudly. The owner has listened to a friend’s system and found out that a pair of subs matches his listening preferences perfectly. Which subs should we use?

If we use the dual voice coil subs, we have three options for wiring the four (two on each sub) voice coils together. We could wire all the coils in parallel. Parallel wiring will present the amp with a 1 ohm load. Most likely, the amp will go into protection because the load is too low. We could wire all the coils in series to present the amp with a 16 ohm load – but that’s not going to happen. We could wire the voice coils on each subwoofer in series, then parallel the pair of subwoofers to get a 4 ohm load. A 4 ohm load is not ideal.

If we use a pair of single voice coil subwoofers, however, and wire the subs in parallel, we get a 2 ohm load. Happy amp and happy customer!

Choosing and Wiring Subwoofers

You can use as many subwoofers as you want on a single amplifier.
You must use all the voice coils on each sub. If you need a 4 ohm load but have a dual 4 ohm sub, using only one coil is going to cause issues. Bad issues.
Wire all the subwoofers you choose so the current going through each subwoofer is the same. In most cases, this means using pairs of subs. In the past, several companies offered dual 6 ohm voice coil subs that could be wired in groups of three to present amplifiers with standard load impedances of 1 or 4 ohms.

Do not wire one dual voice coil subs in series and one in parallel before connecting the subs together in parallel. You will get more current through the (parallel) low-impedance subwoofer. This imbalance will upset the performance of the enclosure and wreak havoc with the reliability and quality of your system. This is unrelated to the wiring of multiple subwoofers, but: Don’t mix and match different subwoofers. Each has its enclosure requirements and response characteristics. There is no way to guarantee that the output of two different subwoofers will sum positively at all frequencies.

So, Which Voice Coil Configuration Is Better?

The answer to the question “which is better” is neither. SVC and DVC subwoofers are simply two different options when buying. They are analogous to a tire manufacturer offering different-sized tires for different vehicles – there is an application for each.

Adding a subwoofer system should be one of the very first things you do to upgrade a factory audio system. When you are ready to make the leap into the realism, impact and dynamics that a great subwoofer can add, drop by your local car audio specialist retailer. They would be happy to work with you to design a system that meets your performance expectations.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Why Would I Want A Remote Starter?

If you have never owned a remote starter, you might be asking yourself why they are so popular. The mobile electronics industry switches into “starter season” each fall and, when the weather cooperates, doesn’t stop until spring time. But what is it about having a remote starter that is so great? We’ll explain.

Just What Is a Remote Starter?

A remote starter system includes several components: a primary system “brain” and interface module, an antenna and at least one remote control. The installer will wire the brain into the ignition system of your vehicle, and then the brain replicates the electrical connections or data commands that are used to start your vehicle. When you press the Start button on the included remote control, the brain starts the remote start process. Pressing the Start button again or letting the preset timer run out will stop the car.

What Are the Benefits of a Remote Starter?

The biggest advantage of having a remote starter is that it will give your vehicle and its systems a head start in getting up to operating temperature. While most people think of a remote starter as something that is used exclusively in the middle of winter, many systems in the vehicle are involved.

The engine has two fluid systems that need a chance to warm up before the vehicle is driven: the cooling and lubrication systems. As your engine runs, both the coolant and the oil will warm up. Engines operate their best at their operating temperature. At these temperatures, the oil flows easily through the engine and properly lubricates everything from the crankshaft and camshaft bearings to the cylinder walls and upper valvetrain. Oil gets thick when it’s cold, so warming it up before you put a heavy load on it (such as accelerating away from being parked or at a stoplight) makes it flow more easily.

The engine’s cooling system has to warm up for the heater core under the dash of your car to warm up. Only once the heater core is warm can the interior of the vehicle start to warm up in the winter.

In the summer, your engine needs to be running for the air conditioning compressor to work and allow it to extract heat from the interior of your vehicle. Even in the summer, your engine oil needs a few minutes to warm up so it can protect your engine properly.

How Long Should My Remote Starter Run?

You want the remote starter system to give your car a head start at warming up. Running the engine for 30 minutes would waste a lot of fuel. Most starters have a default run-time of 10 to 12 minutes. If you start the car 5 to 10 minutes before you want to leave, it will have had a good chance to warm up and start making the interior comfortable.

What Else Can My Remote Starter Do?

In many vehicles, especially those with computers that control the accessory circuits, you have many options that can enhance the functionality of your remote starter. The most common option is door lock control. Most starters have multiple buttons on the remote control that will allow you to unlock the doors as you approach the vehicle, then lock them again as you walk away after arriving at your destination.

Some starter systems have the option of adding a security system. This upgrade adds a siren, shock sensor and additional wiring to monitor the doors. Other options include controls for the power trunk/tailgate, rear window defroster, heated seat and even power window. Your retailer can help guide you through the specific options for your vehicle.

Is My Car Safe When Remote Started?

A lot of retailers are asked whether someone could just walk up the car once it is remote started, open the door, get in and drive away. The answer is no. Stealing your car while it is remote started is no easier than when it’s parked and turned off.

First, most starters keep the doors locked after starting the car. It would be no easier to get in than when the vehicle isn’t running. For vehicles with automatic transmissions, you almost always have to put your foot on the brake pedal to shift out of park. Most remote starters have a shutdown wire connected to the brake pedal – unless you have put the key in the ignition, the vehicle will shut down as soon as you put your foot on the brake. You have no fear of anyone taking your vehicle just because you are using a remote starter system.

Does the Brand of Remote Starter Matter?

That’s a tough one. Certain brands have excellent reputations for reliability. In most cases, the brand of starters that a store carries is typically the one that they have the most experience with and confidence in installing. No installer wants to troubleshoot faulty equipment, so good retailers will always work with brands they trust.

Being familiar with the brand also means that the installers know the color and function of all the wires coming out of the brain so they spend little or no time is spent on reading the owner’s manual. Installers will also have all the tools required to program the system to your vehicle. Most remote starters in late-model vehicles have to communicate with CAN data network, so proper programming and configuration are essential.

What Else Do I Need to Know about a Remote Starter?

You have a lot of options when it comes to purchasing a remote starter. Other than the accessory circuits we mentioned earlier, the options involve different ways of controlling the starter system.

Your first option will involve deciding how much range you need. The range is the distance (in feet or miles) that you will be away from the vehicle and still want it to start when you press the button on the remote control.
The second option is how you want to communicate with the remote starter. Are you happy to push the Start button and let the vehicle do its thing? This type of communication is called one-way. The other option is a two-way remote that will blink, beep or vibrate once the system has received a command back from the vehicle to confirm it has started successfully.
You can also incorporate cellular-based smartphone interfaces with your starter. With a smartphone interface, as long as your phone and the vehicle can get a cellular data connection, you can be anywhere on the planet and start your car.

Choose Your Retailer Wisely

You also need to ask the retailer how the system will be installed. Installers around the country, and around the world, use many different concepts and methods. Some focus on speed so they can offer low prices. Other installers focus on replication of OEM methods for connectivity and wire management. What matters is that the system is reliable. Wire connections should be secure both mechanically and electrically. The installer should mount components so they do not cause buzzes or rattles. The shop should pay special attention to the safe disassembly and reassembly of your vehicle’s trim panels.

We can’t describe every situation, so ask to see their work and judge for yourself.

Owning a remote starter is a great way to save a few minutes each day. Giving your car even 90 seconds to warm up and get the fluids flowing before you start to drive can have a dramatically positive effect on the longevity of your vehicle and on your comfort.

Remote starter systems are not just for cold climates, so visit your local mobile electronic specialist retailer and see what they have to offer.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

What Is Signal-To-Noise Ratio, And Why Does It Matter?

Most people understand the importance of amplifier power specifications. In most cases, more power is a good thing, that is, until you reach the thermal or suspension limits of the speakers you are using. One specification that is also very important in a mobile electronics amplifier, processor or source unit is Signal-to-Noise Ratio. In this article, we are going to explain what S/N Ratio numbers are and why they are important.

All the Noise, all the Time!

It just so happens that when you pass a signal through any device – like a piece of wire, resistor, capacitor, inductor, transistor or anything else you can think of – a tiny little bit of noise is added to the signal. There are many different kinds of noise. The random motion of electrons bouncing around as they pass through a device causes thermal noise. Higher temperatures result in more noise. Another common noise is Shot Noise. The difference in arrival times of electrons as they cross a barrier or gap between two materials causes Shot Noise. Devices like transistors and diodes, which have different layers of materials inside, are common sources of Shot Noise. There are many more types of noise.

As you can imagine, the amount of noise generated by any one of these devices is minuscule. When you add up a little bit of noise from a bunch of components, then you amplify the resulting signal, the amount of noise in the output of a circuit grows dramatically.

Noise happens in source units, signal processors and amplifiers. Once you add noise to the signal chain, it’s essentially impossible to remove it.

The Sound of Noise

An easy way to hear what noise sounds like is to connect a set of headphones to your laptop computer and turn the volume up fairly high. You’ll hear a hiss through the headphones. That’s noise. (Note: Please be careful, we want you as an audio enthusiast for life. Take those headphones off before your computer plays a sound and you risk damaging your hearing.)

How We Measure Noise

There are a few ways to quantify the noise an electronic component creates. One method is to simply state the noise on the output of the device in absolute terms. The measurement could be in volts or watts, and quantifies the amplitude of the noise signal. You won’t see this used to describe audio components, however.

The most common method of quantifying the noise that a product adds to the signal is to compare the noise level to that of the audio signal coming out of the device. Because the difference in these levels can be quite large, we state the ratio of the signal level to the noise level using the decibel (dB) scale. The decibel scale is logarithmic. As such, a difference of 6 dB represents a doubling of the amplitude ratio, 20 dB is ten times the amplitude, 40 dB is 100 times, 60 dB is 1000 times and 80 dB is 10,000 times and so on.

Let us look at a moderate quality amplifier – nothing awesome, nothing disastrous. We see that this fictional amplifier has a S/N Ratio of -82.3 dB when referenced to 1 watt of power output into a 4-ohm load. What does that mean? Well, first, we know that to produce 1 watt of power into a 4-ohm speaker, we need 2 volts RMS of signal coming out of the amp. Our noise level is 82.3 dB quieter than 2 volts. Using an online calculator, that means that the noise produced by this amp is 0.00006918309709189363 times smaller than 2 volts, so it’s about 0.000138 volts. A little more math and that works out to 4.785 nanowatts.

Nope. That isn’t very much noise. And in most cases, you probably can’t hear it.

What if we work hard and find a below-average amplifier? Something with a S/N spec down around 70 dB? If we apply that math to our 2 volts of rated output, we get a noise level of 99.99 nanowatts. Yep, that’s a LOT more watts as compared to the previous example.

Clarifying the Mysterious Signal-To-Noise Ratio

If you look at an amp spec from more than about 10 years ago, or you see a number that is abnormally high, they may be rating the noise level using the maximum output capability of the amplifier as the comparing factor. If we measure an amplifier’s noise output level at 1 watt to be 85 dB, then you increase the amplifier’s output to 10 watts, assuming it doesn’t make any additional noise, the S/N ratio will be -95 dB. If the amp can produce 100 watts with no more noise, the ratio is now -105 dB. There are hundreds of amps that can produce 1000 watts – so that noise ratio measurement would now be -115 dB. When it comes to printing numbers on a gift box, in a brochure or publishing them on a website, being able to say that the S/N Ratio is -115 dB sure looks more appealing than -85 dB.

The CEA-2006 specification established a standard set of guidelines for S/N Ratio noise measurement. The specification dictates that we measure the S/N Ratio compared to 1 watt of output into a 4-ohm load. A new specification is in the works that will help quantify the adjustment of the sensitivity setting on the amplifier during the measurement process. As it sits, the lower the setting of the amp, the better the S/N ratio measurement will be. Want to confirm this? Next time you are installing an amp, turn the system on with no signal connected to the amp and listen to the speakers. Then turn the amp gain up all the way. You will hear the noise level increase. Please turn the gain back down and shut the system off before proceeding.

Why is the Lack of Noise Important?

How can we quantify the desire not to add noise to our signal? Here is a simple analogy. If you purchased a TV in recent years, you may have heard the expression ‘blacker blacks.’ ‘Blacker blacks’ refers to how dark the screen gets when there is no signal. Blacker is better. When you think about your audio system, a ‘more negative’ S/N ratio means that the noise is quieter than the audio signal. We don’t want to listen to noise. -90 dB is better than -80 dB. Go it? Clear?

There are so many criteria to balance when choosing any car audio product. Power levels, efficiencies, distortion characteristics, features and functions all play an important role. Understanding the meaning of the S/N ratio measurement is very important. We don’t want ANY distortion or noise added to our music, but the laws of physics deny us that luxury. Do your best to choose products that, through careful design and choice of internal components, minimize these negative effects. Your local mobile electronics specialist can help steer you towards some amazing equipment. Drop in and check out what’s new.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Features of the Compustar CS697-A Vehicle Security System

Vehicle Protection Upgrade Options

Protect Your Investment with an Aftermarket Car Alarm

Keys and Phone Locked in Your Car?

Log in to Drone on a Computer

You Won’t Get Lost in a Big City

Add the Convenience of Drone to Your Car or Truck Today

How an Amplifier Works

Amplifier Load Determines Amplifier Power

What About These Subs?

Example 1

Example 2

Choosing and Wiring Subwoofers

So, Which Voice Coil Configuration Is Better?

Just What Is a Remote Starter?

What Are the Benefits of a Remote Starter?

How Long Should My Remote Starter Run?

What Else Can My Remote Starter Do?

Is My Car Safe When Remote Started?

Does the Brand of Remote Starter Matter?

What Else Do I Need to Know about a Remote Starter?

Choose Your Retailer Wisely

All the Noise, all the Time!

The Sound of Noise

How We Measure Noise

Clarifying the Mysterious Signal-To-Noise Ratio

Why is the Lack of Noise Important?

Testimonials

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I recommend then to everyone!

Will be going back for sure!

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